New ball fields to bear name of longtime Lake County champion

LAKEPORT -- The newest set of ball fields at the Westside Community Park will soon bear the name of a longtime champion for Lake County and youth activities.

The Lakeport City Council approved naming Phase 2 of the emerging city park as "Jane Barnes Field" in January to honor the memory of Jane Keeling Barnes and the financial support provided by her family.

"It's just one more affirmation of the progress toward the total completion of the park," Wilda Shock, Barnes' eldest daughter, said.

Barnes, an avid supporter of youth programs throughout the county, died in April 2001 at age 81. Since her passing, the Barnes family and the Keeling-Barnes Family Foundation became the Westside park's second-largest contributor, donating nearly $90,000 to date.

The family continues to recognize the importance of "having that multi-use facility available for the community with an emphasis on playing fields," Shock said.

Jane Barnes Field consists of a full-size baseball field, a Little League-size baseball and softball field and soccer fields on about 4.5 acres that should be game-ready later this year.

Westside Community Park Committee Chair Dennis Rollins said officials opted to name the field after Barnes "not only because of (the family's) financial contribution, but because of the work Jane Barnes did in the community."

Rollins said he ordered the concrete sign commemorating Barnes in mid-February and the manufacturer told him to anticipate delivery by late spring. A dedication ceremony is expected once the monument is installed at the park.

The pair of baseball diamonds should be finished by the end of July and the grass separating the two should be ready to host soccer matches in the fall, according to Rollins.

"Without the donations from the Keeling-Barnes family, we couldn't have developed what we have," Charlie Jolin, the park's original mastermind and a longtime family friend, said. "They certainly have been great partners in building the park."

The family has always taken pride in contributing to efforts that benefit Lake County, Shock said.

"Philanthropy and supporting local projects has been of importance to the family for generations and the family foundation looks to continue that family tradition and legacy," she added.

In recent years, the foundation has also contributed to the Soper Reese Community Theatre in Lakeport, the Lake County Land Trust's Rodman Preserve and the education pavilion at Clear Lake State Park.

During her life, Barnes was affiliated with a variety of organizations, including the Cub Scouts, Nice 4-H Club, California Grand Assembly for Rainbow Girls and the Lake County Chapter of California Women for Agriculture.

A fourth generation Lake County resident, Barnes graduated from Clear Lake High School in 1937 and later attended Mills College, Santa Rosa Junior College and Heald's Business College.

She started a family in the county with her first husband, Royal Dorsett. The two, along with her father and brother, were instrumental in the development of the Holiday Harbor, Lake Builders Supply, and Texaco service station along Highway 20 in Nice in the mid-1940s.

The family briefly moved from Lake County but returned after Dorsett died from polio in 1949.

Barnes married her second husband, Kelseyville resident Victor D. Barnes, in 1951. The couple combined their families, raising four children at The Barnes Yard, a diversified farming operation growing hay, walnuts, wine grapes and kiwifruit on a ranch between Nice and Lucerne.

The Barneses supported their children's involvement in sports, band, 4-H, DeMolay for Boys and activities in Upper Lake schools.

Later, Barnes chaired the citizen committee that supported and created the Northwest Clear Lake Regional Wastewater System dedicated in 1974.

The Westside Community Park became one of Victor Barnes' favorite philanthropic endeavors after his wife's death, Shock said. He made several key donations to the project in the early 2000s.

The family foundation has continued to support and encourage the park's development since his death in 2005.